I see this rejection of social media and these critiques of Silicon Valley as a sign of a clear-eyed population observing technology with a healthy skepticism, ready to so “no” when they need to. Rejection of technology, we can even say the rejection of progress, need not mean ignorance. There is progress in regress, so to speak.

We are more critical of how these technologies impact our lives. We are not as enamored with social media companies as we used to be. There was a time when society saw them as a completely benign force that “does no evil”. It doesn’t mean they are inherently bad either. It just means that they are companies, pure and simple. Their bottom line is not to create a just world, but to increase profits.

We have become much more critical of the way in which new technologies organize and engineer human thought.

For instance, it has become something of a given now that you should not hold conversations via e-mail unless you absolutely have to. E-mail is instrumental – for relaying information and logistics. People have rejected e-mail for everyday communication and prefer to call or speak in person.